Butters

Cocoa Butter is obtained from Cacao seeds (beans) found in the fruit of the Cocoa Tree grown mainly in South America & Africa.

Cocoa Butter has a long shelf life due to its high antioxidant levels, is mildly antiseptic and is an effective mild moisturiser that melts gently on contact with warm skin. As an additive in bath bombs it is very easy to use; just grate into your dry mix - try 1 part Cocoa Butter with 10 parts of dry bath bomb mix. Invaluable in lip balms where it can aid sore cracked skin and fantastic for adding some solidity to massage bars and melts - a verstile product

Derived from Coconuts grown on Palm trees in Asia, Coconut Oil or Butter is just solid at room temperature, has a short shelf life and is best kept in the fridge.

Refined to remove the slightly sickly natural smell it makes a wonderful natural emollient. Coconut Oil is widely used in soap making and in the wider cosmetics industry in products such as sun cream, massage formulations and as an emulsifier in cosmetics/toiletry manufacturing.

Shea Butter is obtained from the stones within the fruit of the Shea Tree which grows wild on the Savannah in many West African countries. An important source of income Shea butter also forms the basis of West African skin and hair care and is revered for its healing and regenerative properties.

Excellent used as is on dry problem skin it is also a very good carrier for other therapeutic products (Essential Oils etc) which are released more readily in Shea Butter than some other oils/butters. Refined Shea Butter has a longer shelf life than the unrefined version which can be prone to rancidity. As a testament to its properties, the use of Shea Butter within the wider cosmetics industry is fast increasing.

Unrefined Shea Butter - Fair Trade

For many hundreds of years in Africa, shea butter has been produced predominantly by women, as a food, skin & hair treatment and for many medicinal uses. In the 19th century, Africans began trading the shea, using it as a source of stearin (vegetable fat), particularly for the European chocolate industry. More recently it has become prized as a component of personal care products as interest has increased in its therapeutic value.